Ary and the Secret of Seasons Reviews
Ary and the Secret of Seasons has turned out to be the platforming adventure I expected. Complete, fun, agile and with suitable dungeons. Of course, the ability to manipulate the four seasons in imaginative ways in exploration, puzzles and combat is the true hallmark of this epic. Only regret aspects less successful or with less work, which prevent the game from reaching even higher, but what there is certainly deserves.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
If there are some patches to fix the bugs and technical issues, it could be recommended on sale, but until then I cannot suggest anyone play this game.
The game is brimming with potential. Unfortunately, the weak narrative, plain bad combat, and a plethora of bugs and glitches make it so that I simply can’t recommend that anyone buy this ten-hour-long game.
MEDIOCRE - A rather bland experience that is tainted by technical issues that almost render the game unplayable on the docked Switch, but made slightly better with some published workarounds. Once the game is patched and cleaned up it might be worth checking out, but I’m not sure that’ll be enough to make the game fun.
Ary and the Secret of Seasons presents unprecedented mechanics in which the characteristics of the seasons are used to revitalize objects and areas to create interesting 3D platform puzzles. Although it has its charm, the experience ends up being as fleeting and forgettable as the seasons themselves with four seasons full of technical problems such as rendering deadlocks, errors and crashes, in addition to other aspects that make the title repetitive, dragged and almost nothing challenging .
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
All-in-all, this could have been a game that you can just have fun with and not take seriously. It’s unfortunately riddled with a ton of game-breaking bugs that you’ll spend more time being frustrated and disappointed rather than actually having fun. It feels like a beta version, almost. These bugs can very well be fixed in the future and maybe the experience will be more enjoyable then. For now, however, this game feels like an unfinished product that was pushed forcibly towards release. The game’s combat is so unfurnished and unexciting. The story feels… rushed. All of these aspects are such a shame because I feel like the game has a lot of potential and the main character is really likable. Sadly, that potential is far from attained.
Ary and the Secret of Seasons introduces an interesting "season bubbles" mechanic and a well characterized game world, but fails in providing a compelling story and an interesting gameplay. Many bugs and glitches don't help, either.
Review in Italian | Read full review
A game with lots of potential that we can enjoy any and everywhere, but has too many issues on its own.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Ary and the Secret of Seasons needed to stay in development for a few more seasons, receiving the polish it needed to become memorable. There are really good ideas in the game, with emphasis on the main mechanics of the stations. There are few titles that explore a certain aspect so well without making it dull or repetitive. However, without a doubt, the biggest negative point is the huge gallery of technical problems. Constant and time consuming load screens, objects being rendered a few meters away, areas with fog, very unstable fps rate, many bugs and crashes that close the game are just a few in this list.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Ary and the Secret of Seasons might don the aesthetics of grand adventure games but it only ever glimpses the horizon it’s so clearly chasing.
While Ary and the Secret of Seasons struggles with lots of issues, it benefits from many strong points as well. Even though the visual style doesn't belong to this generation, it still has its own beauty and charm. If it wasn't for the technical problems, Ary could have shined among the best games of this generation. The issues could have been solved with more time and effort from the developers and this shows the lack of enthusiasm from them.
Review in Persian | Read full review
Ary and the Secret of Seasons is a delightful action adventure that has great gameplay ideas but ultimately falls short. There are a lot of glitches, the combat is average at best and the visuals feature low-res textures. The ability to control the four seasons and use them to solve puzzles is a redeeming feature, but the reality is there are plenty of stronger titles in the genre available.
So overall, while Ary and the Secret of Seasons does need some patches to fix some rather large issues on the Switch, the adventure itself is light and fun even if it doesn't really do anything new. This isn’t exactly a bad thing as what it sets out to do it does well, but, until it gets patched be warned that you may have to do the same thing a few times over.
Glitchy mechanics and a lack of polish get in the way of this otherwise innovative, whimsical puzzle-platformer. I want to wholeheartedly recommend it as a game for the whole family, but sadly several broken elements stop it from being a must-play.
"Ary and the Secret of Seasons" is a fine action-adventure in itself, which can be described as family-friendly and which invites every genre-fan to a fun and entertaining adventure. Depending on how much you sink into the trial & error vortex during the puzzle interludes and how strong the urge for discovery is, you can spend 8-10 hours with the game. Altogether there are however already some technical deficiencies, which cloud the fun of the game and also disturb the presentation. Of course the style is consciously chosen more minimalistic and it is not a full price title, but such rough carvings should not occur and one can only hope that the game will be improved in the form of patches.
Review in German | Read full review
This adventure game is easy to get into, although it doesn’t reach it’s full potential, the gameplay is simple and well animated but it’s hindered by repetition and lack of ambition.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
With some more time in the oven. Ary and the Secret of Seasons could be a stellar Zelda Clone. The dungeons offer some decent challenge with the seasonal powers and later on you get access to a seasonal slingshot which helps with strategies. But that doesn’t change how the game feels soulless, characters frozen like it’s winter everywhere, the sounds characters make during conversations, even things like the choice of font, the objectives hanging on screen all the time, even just Ary’s reactions to new tasks feel empty. There is definitely some potential here, just some polish could make this game really shine.
Ary and the Secret of Seasons has an original concept and an appealing look to it. The game lets you control the seasons to create platforms or open up other ways to progress. In the open world, you can find a lot of things to do which keep you busy for hours. There is simply a lot to discover in the game. But unfortunately there are a lot of flaws. The game has tons of glitches, a faulty camera and crashes sometimes. Thanks to this the great concept turned out to be a mediocre title, even for 40 euros.
Review in Dutch | Read full review
Ary and the Secret of Seasons delivers on its core systems and its ambition pays off in many areas, but it’s frustrating and off-key moments along with continuous bugs make it a mixed bag.
At the heart of Ary and the Secret of Seasons rests a good story and a delightful world ripe for exploring. The only thing that keeps players from experiencing the world in full is the game's half-done execution. The glitches alone will put off seasoned gamers, and given this game's young demographic, it is hard to imagine kids suffering through the slips. This is a shame as Ary is the kind of character you want to root for. But after one too many glitches, her dazzling personality will fail to keep gamers plugged in.